![]() |
That’s terrible, Brian. I’m very sorry to hear it.
|
I'm sorry, Brian. That's awful :(
SI |
STOP ABUSING YOUR CHILDREN!!!!
Fox News' Tucker Carlson suggests viewers call the cops on parents with masked children |
Sorry to hear. I've been fortunate so far, no one close has been adversely impacted. Sorry its someone so close to you.
|
Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts. I'll be fine.
|
Quote:
Those people run a school? What the fuck? |
I was wondering if what was happening in India is some sort of super strain etc. Pfizer is supposedly effective, would like to know about Moderna (got that one) but assume it is also.
Quote:
|
Vaccines are one thing but we need good therapeutics also. Hope this works out.
Quote:
|
3 data points.
Like the 36x difference. There should be more PSA announcements on TV (e.g. Oscars for the left, NASCAR on the right, include streaming also etc.) about benefits of second shot and the cons of missing it. I've not been watching regular TV as much but I don't think we've been inundated with these PSA announcements. We kinda knew about the second one. And think the article implied the third one is overstated as there are folks getting second shots but just not at the same place for various reasons. https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/02/us/co...sed/index.html Quote:
|
What's happening in India is delaying vaccine production and therefore impacting rest of the world.
The article implied that India was helping produce the vaccine for ROW while not pressing full steam ahead to vaccinate her own population. Don't know the full story but if it was largely for profit motives, not good. As a lessons learn, I think Biden's plan should include bringing back some level of drug manufacturing to the US. Don't know what the right balance is but it should be like Moderna/Pfizer etc. getting nice tax breaks for bringing the strategic stuff onshore. https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/01/world...cmd/index.html Quote:
|
Just pulling India's numbers up to the level of Brazil in terms of infections per capita and death rate, and India would have roughly 100 million cases with about 2.2 million dead.
|
A few tidbits of info on India:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
|
Covid-19 deaths may be more than double the official total - Vox
This has always seemed pretty obvious to me. Unless you want to posit an unknown disease that just happens to be randomly killing people at the same time as COVID, the only real explanation for the excess deaths is COVID. |
But what about the suicides!!!!
|
I know you're joking, but suicides actually dropped last year
|
Africa is pretty nervous after seeing India...once it explodes, it will run non-stop.
|
Quote:
Not just Africa but Asia too. The article says festivals, holidays etc. There's a graphic comparing Nepal with India, pretty scary. https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/07/asia/...hnk/index.html I do wonder why Africa doesn't seem as badly hit as others. Less indoor congregation, weather, genes etc. whatever. |
Quote:
|
|
Herd Immunity is the latest in a long line of “If we put a fancy name on not wanting to do the necessary hard work, we can make it seem like something other than a lack of will” ideas to fail.
Doing the necessary hard work is hard. But not doing the necessary hard work is always worse in the long run. |
There's always gonna be ~25% of us who won't get a vaccine to make a political statement. And the media has given them an outsized voice as the face of the not yet vaccinated. But I think that the administration has rightly written those folks off as irrelevant. And it is instead focusing on getting the quiet reluctant to get their shots. And it is working. We may yet reach normal. |
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/10/pfiz...-12-to-15.html
Quote:
|
In Ontario Canada, they just opened the vaccines to 40+ today. Both my wife and I have appointments later this week (different days though). It was a stampede as the internet savvy 40-49 year olds went crazy to secure appointments. Crazy how we are in such a different place compared to the US with regards to vaccine supply.
|
I think its relative. Crazy how Canada is in such a different place compare to Asian countries.
Just become the 51st state (and maybe 52nd with Quebec) :) |
Quote:
I don't think its a done deal yet, but was reading good news about vaccine safety and pregnancy also. Regardless, if my daughter was pregnant, I would recommend waiting another 4-5 months and not be an "early adopter". |
Quote:
My son is 11 and starting middle school next year. He won't turn 12 until December...it's frustrating because from what I hear there's been a HUGE difference between how the local middle schools have been handling COVID precautions vs how the elementary schools have. And that was before the email we got earlier this week saying that masks will be optional next year. I really wish my kid could get the shot before he heads off to middle school. |
My one son is 13 and already preschedule for an appointment tomorrow pending approval.
My other son is <12, so he will be going to school without a vaccine next year. But our governor is a Dem, so we'll still have reasonable restrictions at the schools if necessary. |
My daughter got hers yesterday and a bunch of her friends went today. We are thrilled because she just turned 12 and will be going to sleepaway camp. I believe the data are being collected for the younger kids and my guess is there will be more approvals toward the end of the summer.
|
Just learned our neighbor is anti vax. Our daughters are the same age and best friends, but I'm really rethinking that.
|
Huzzah, Ohio is lifting its mask mandate on June 2nd.
|
Quote:
California is lifting it on June 16. |
I just saw the Yankees have a mini outbreak of 7 coaching staff testing positive despite all being vaccinated and the entire Yankees traveling party was at least 85% vaccinated. 6 of the 7 are asymptomatic. If we do open everything up will people eventually get it and the vaccine just helps people avoid the serious symptoms?
|
Can't tell if this is embarrassing or brilliant. I personally think it would just be easier to tie stimulus to this.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...ewine-n1267176 |
Quote:
I thought the last stimulus round should've been tied to getting vaccinated so I'm generally ok with it (except for the deficit spending but no one cares about that anymore). |
They should make it really interesting and offer 100$ or a ticket for the lottery, but nobody knows how many entries were made until the drawing.
|
CDC says fully vaccinated Americans no longer need masks indoors or outdoors in most cases
By Yasmeen Abutaleb and Laurie McGinley https://www.washingtonpost.com/healt...rs-most-cases/ Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk |
Quote:
This will probably spawn 2 new conspiracy theories for everyone one it kills. |
So, the billion dollar question is, how until the vaccine dose loses efficacy. What I mean is, do we know how long I'm "95%" protected? Is it a sliding scale over a year, such that at 8 months post-vaccine I'm now 30%? Does it suddenly go away? How would I know when the math is no longer in my favor for being protected?
I feel like this changes the calculus of masking and re-opening, especially since there's a non-insignificant swath of Americans who refuse to get the vaccine or wear a mask. I got my last shot the first week of April, so am I going to need to start feeling antsy again come winter when my protection starts to wean, but I'm not due for whatever booster I need to get for another 5 months? I just have to deal with freaking out about maskless Kyle and Karen who refused to vaccinate their 13 home schoolers? I mean, I like being a hermit, but even I enjoy an occasional venture to a hockey game or a dank restaurant on occasion. |
Quote:
They are studies going on right now addressing that question. Some of the folks who got the clinical trial vaccines (which started pretty much a year ago) are in the clinical trials for determining when boosters are needed. From what I've read, coronaviruses do not mutate like influenza viruses, so while we will probably need boosters because our immunity naturally wanes, it isn't gonna be like we need a totally new shot every year. |
Quote:
until next week when they change their minds |
The lifting of the mask mandate seems too quick to me. I get a good % of the pop have gotten 1+ dose already but IMO we should be moving from Red to Yellow, not from Red to Green all of a sudden (wouldn't do that on a project). Go to Yellow for another 4 weeks and then go to Green.
But overall, ain't going to argue with it as I'm sure Fauci signed off on this move. |
Quote:
BTW, for people who don't understand HIPAA laws: HIPAA (which is not spelled HIPPA) says your doctor, hospital or medical insurer can't release your information without your consent. It does not stop your company for asking if you are vaccinated. I keep seeing the ignorant saying "This will violate HIPPA" when they obviously have no idea what HIPAA is. How do they think schools can require vaccination cards? Business require physicals all the time, not to mention drug test. I believe you have to wave HIPAA to receive Workers Comp. |
I don't see how this changes anything. This is once again putting the onus on retailers to police the unpoliceable (is that a word?). The whole point of continuing to require masks of everyone is because of the impossibility of telling the vaccinated from the unvaccinated. They should have just announced that no one needs a mask except in crowded situations, period. Saying that unvaccinated people still need a mask begs the question of how to enforce that. If I can just lie without any repercussions, what's the point? How is Kroger supposed to protect its employees and customers if it has no way to tell who is unvaccinated and without a mask?
|
Also, many people raising the HIPAA thing are talking about stores being unable to request that info from customers, not necessarily their employees.
|
The easiest way to tell without a vaccine passport is to confront the following people without masks:
People with the American flag on their shirt or hat; or Women in yoga pants with a child over 5 in the middle of the day. 100% none of them are vaccinated. |
There is a high-ranking epidemiologist with the State of North Carolina in my wife's extended family. He is also a former CDC physician. Today, in advance of Roy Cooper's announcement lifting nearly all restrictions--which I'm sure this person knew was coming--he reposted this Tweet to his FB wall.
|
Dola:
For context, since February 2020, this guy has NEVER posted anything humorous or snarky about all of this. It was a proverbial "spit water all over my keyboard" moment when I saw it. |
Quote:
Okay Karen. |
Quote:
Yup. Neighbor who flies the Blue Lives Matter flag whenever a cop murders someone told me the other day how there is no way he's getting the vaccine. I'm like "no shit". |
Talked with a public pollster this week about the intersection between her work in polling and the policy work of reaching the vaccine hesitant. Interesting case study here in what pockets to look for, even though it matches up with our intuition.
But fresh off a census, where everyone sort of got accustomed to a "suspicion of government" being associated with communities of color, especially non-English-speakers. We all got into a groove that those were the people we needed to make a special effort to reach with the census, to ensure as full a count as possible. For many, the first instinct was that a government vaccine program would have trouble reaching the same groups. Not really true, and polling played a major role in helping reshape the outreach effort for the weeks ahead -- now that most of those who actively wanted to get the jab have done so, we're on to those who were hesitant or reluctant. And the messaging is definitely laden with the if/then language... "getting to this reachable number is the way for us all to get mostly back to normal." There's a lot that people will study and examine for years from this stretch of time, which will turn out to be lessons learned for public health policy, as well as other areas. |
Quote:
FWIW, one of my favorite t-shirts has the American flag front and center. Yeah, I'm vaccinated :) |
Another ethical conundrum. WHO is asking wealthier nations to give vaccines to less fortunate countries instead of vaccinating their own youth.
I absolutely empathize with this. But no, US has to look after the US first. With that said, the US should contribute more $ to Covax fund and donate the vaccines it never plans on using (e.g. Astra Zeneca). Quote:
|
I think the WHO is correct. We should be vaccinating all high-risk people regardless of nation first. That's complicated by the lack of reliable data in some places, but I mean simply to the degree that it's practical to do so. A small benefit to someone here is not as important as a large benefit to someone elsewhere.
|
Quote:
Its more like a very large benefit to a smaller group of people here (is or is not) as important as a very large benefit to a much larger group elsewhere. Kids still do get sick, kids still do die, kids still have to deal with complications etc. The question I think you are drawing is US kids worth that much more than adults and kids from less fortunate countries? It is from your relative point of view but as a US President, yeah it should be. Children Now Account For 22% Of New U.S. COVID Cases. Why Is That? : Coronavirus Updates : NPR Quote:
Quote:
|
Quote:
Spoken like someone without kids. |
Huh. I think I'm speaking like someone who doesn't think an American kid's life is more important than the life of someone born in another country who has already been worse off by far due to the misfortune of being born somewhere without world-class healthcare.
Quote:
I don't agree. We have to get away from prioritizing our own first. That's the first step to global equality; recognizing that people are not subhuman because they live somewhere else. It's more important for someone with the power of an office such as POTUS to make such a stand; that power isn't a justification not to do so. Quote:
Absolutely,. and that is a tragedy. But they don't do so at nearly the rate as other demographics do. The benefit to kids here is not nearly as great as the benefit to those other groups of people. |
Quote:
I suspect you wouldn't be so altruistic if it was your kids. |
You're right, I probably wouldn't. I would also consider that to be a character flaw in myself.
The question though wasn't about it whether it was my kids, but about what we should do on a nationwide/global scale. I stand on the side of equality. |
Quote:
Maybe he's had some salacious rendezvous in other countries. :p |
As a person with kids, I am going to agree with Brian. I believe that the goal should be to protect the most vulnerable nationally and globally. I definitely want to make sure that my kid is protected but I have to acknowledge that my son is much more protected and less vulnerable n his current situation than say an elderly person or someone with underlying conditions is a worse situation somewhere else.
|
Dola,
I say all that but once my wife. my son and I all feel comfortable with him getting the vaccine, he will get it. It feels similar to the debate early on about whether teachers should get the vaccine before say lawyers. |
So we went to Publix today to pick up a few things, and we noticed that employees did not have masks on for the first time in a long time. Interestingly most customers still did wear them. And for those who still need a vaccine shot, their pharmacy is offering walk-in and get your shot, no appointment needed.
|
Quote:
Agree. Not to mention that it helps limit the variants that could spur in these countries and be immune to our vaccine. This shit requires a global solution. |
I'm glad to see this kind of crossover. Normally Rainmaker, miamifan and myself couldn't agree that water is wet. Always good to have a moment of common ground.
|
To go back to a conversation we had a while about pandemic changes that will stick, I wonder if everything has gone back to pre-pandemic in the way you go about your day or have changes that you made during the pandemic stuck. Not necessarily about remote working as I think we have updated that conversation recently. I am talking more about online shopping /curbside pickup, working out at home vs going to the gym, or just conducting personal business online as opposed to going to a bank etc. In the last week or so, I have had several conversations with different people about how they have not set foot in a brick and mortar store since like May 2020 and they now do all of their shopping online and have it delivered or they do curbside pickup. From what they say, they are not scared of crowds, the virus, or anything like that. They just don't see any reason to go into the store when they don't have to and they have perfected their own personal shopping experience. I have seen an increase in people in the neighborhood having some sort of strength training set up in their garages though the parking lot of the closest gym is packed most of the day and a friend who owns a gym has seen a strong return after he fully re-opened.
I don't think I have changed too much tbh. Mostly because so many of the changes that were required were not that drastic to the way we normally lived. One change that I have made is I have signed up for a couple of subscription services to get some of my favorite toiletries delivered to the house. These are brands that are not widely distributed and if they are they are more expensive when I see them in most stores. It is as much of a financial decision as one of convenience. I can see myself signing up for more of these in the future Plus, I don't necessarily go to the stores during the peak shopping hours. I have started going back to the gym but I wear a mask while I work out and I have always been a bit obsessive about wiping down the equipment. Also again, I tend to go at off peak hours when I do. Yes, I am one of the four people in the gym if you drive past it at 9:30pm on a Tuesday night. While I don't like necessarily working out with people, I do enjoy working out around people. We have not really ventured out to restaurants or anything like that just yet. I know that is not intentional. We just have not felt the urge to go. Anyone else feel like they have made permanent or semi permanent changes to their everyday life? |
This is sort of about work, but my job involves a lot of visits to local jails to see clients. And a lot of them got videoconferencing equipment installed for the pandemic. And they aren't going to rip that out. So that's a good change. A lot of times, the conversation you need to have is just 15 minutes of "We got in the plea offer, and it is like we discussed. Are you still ok with a plea next week?" But if the jail was 90 minutes away, it took half a day to do it. Now, that 15 minute conversation takes 15 minutes.
Personally, we had already started online shopping mostly. We increased it during the pandemic, and I see that remaining as our default. We got more used to takeout than dining out. I see that remaining, too. Bring the food home, watch a movie with the kids. Cheaper (no drinks) and more pleasant. My wife and I will still have date nights. But I expect most of our family eating out will remain family takeout. |
Quote:
Heh, my wife figured this out some fifteen years ago. ;) Now, some of this was out of necessity - our credit union is an hour away, she works nights, etc. But in general she doesn't like crowds, prefers staying at home. Oh, and doesn't typically do the grocery shopping. Almost everything else is ordered online, has been for ages. What she HAS missed is eating out. Though even then we try to avoid crowds, eating at odd times or at less-frequented places. |
Quote:
Well I know we have a thread here somewhere that documents my baby steps into online food shopping in particular.:p I am still not there yet but maybe lol. |
Quote:
This is the case with us as well. If we just want to get something to eat, it is take out. If we want an experience, we are going to the restaurant. I guess we have not had a need for those experiences. |
https://twitter.com/i/events/1397281219797164035
Looks like Russia is offering to pay Europeans to be public anti-vaxers. Americans are so selfless and giving that we're willing to work for Russian propaganda for free. |
So what's your price to be a public anti-vaxxer? Every day you have to post anti-vaxx information with scripted commentary under your own established social media accounts.
You can tell people offline that you've been bought, but I'm not sure "It's OK, the Russians are paying me to do this" would salvage your reputation much. I don't know if I could do it at any cost. It would definitely have to be well into the 7 figures. Also, it's pretty awesome that there was no posts in this thread for 8 days. And to see the numbers continue to decline. And to look at a news website where there's sometimes little or even nothing on the front page about COVID. I got my Red Sox tickets for late June this morning, it seems everything else is opening up for that trip where I'll see my parents and siblings for the first time in a year and half. Things are on the upswing. |
I think I'd do it for $100,000
|
Fingers crossed that I win the Ohio Vaccination Lottery tonight!
|
Quote:
I haven't followed that much, has it made a noticeable impact in numbers? Definitely an interesting concept. |
Governor Mike Dewine has been claiming the lottery has improved vaccine rates.
|
It has. Since the announcement, Ohio rates have done better than the national average.
As someone said, it is an incentive targeted to people with a poor understanding of probability and risk assessment--the exact sort of people who are remaining unvaxed. |
dola:
It's actually not a bad idea. Make a $500,000 lottery for everyone who gets a flu shot every year. Does not cost the state much, but it probably increases rates in a notable way. More than ads on bus stops, etc. |
|
Quote:
Nope :( |
NJ lifted indoor mask mandate and capacity requirements today. Went to the liquor store first, walked in and immediately the cashier, not masked, sneezed into his open hand. Rethinking my choice to not wear a mask already.
Went to Shoprite next. I would say about 35% of people were unmasked. What I was wondering is of the 65% masked, are they worried about illness or is it societal pressure to wear a mask. |
Our governor went out of state for business for a couple of days, and the Lt. Governor immediately passed an executive order banning mask mandates. The governor came back and repealed it a day later.
It's all theater, there's not many mask mandates left in the state, it's just funny to me (and scary) how the regular Republicans and the wacky Republicans fight each other in red states. This is why I briefly register Republican to vote in the closed primaries. This is our Lt. Governor. She is running for Governor next year ![]() |
I have never ever ever ever understood the hardcore tie between gun culture and Evangelicals. It has always made zero sense to me.
|
Quote:
Religious extremists and violence have gone hand in hand for a long time. They're just ISIS but white. |
The rise of Christian Nationalism is exactly that. It's extremist religious zealots that feel like the separation of church and state should not happen, and that freedom of religion shouldn't be a thing and they are willing to fight for that truth. I think they believe that's the way the founding fathers intended it, in spite of how things are written. When you're that far removed from the center of the country the truths about it don't matter any longer and they pose the same potential risk as ISIS.
|
Quote:
Quote:
These responses, one short and concise, the other more eloquent and detailed, are both spot on. Thump your bible and pass the ammo |
Quote:
I'd add that I think the religion part is secondary to these folks. Most don't adhere to any Christian values, just like ISIS doesn't adhere to most Muslim values. It's just a way to justify doing things they want. I mean the evangelical movement fell head over heels for a thrice divorced grifter who admits to sexually assaulting women. Pretty sure those "Christian values" are just made up. |
Quote:
WHISIS? |
Quote:
I mean, the official SputnikV Twitter Account posted basically the same sort of thing a month ago, too (aside from anything else it's just the absolute height of bad form) with some halfbaked cherrypicked data about "Deaths after Vaccine" showing how much worse Pfizer supposedly was. (The easy reason for mRNA was used most frequently by far in elderly people in quite a few countries on the list + mostly in countries tracking this more thoroughly) |
Quote:
You have to admit, they are more practical than Swords. |
Quote:
|
When you boil it way way down, religion is basically a means to an end anyway. So these extremists are a natural evolution of the way religion has been used for eons.
|
Went to the grocery store this morning and I would say about 50% of people were maskless, including employees.
One thing I noticed is some people give you a wide berth when they see you maskless. |
Had breakfast with a couple friends. We sat outside but there was a fair number inside. Tables were pretty well spaced apart. Good to see things going (slowly) back to normal.
|
Get ever tired of people declaring "Hey! The pandemic's over!"
|
Quote:
Nothing compared to people still hellbent on 'proving' there never was one happening in the first place. I still come upon people doing insane mental gymnastics to say it was basically like a flue season. And not to forget the (often the same) people blasting the panic about the plandemic, then turn around and claiming the vaccines are genocide. |
Went into REI today. Honor system, if you are fully vaccinated, you can go in without a mask. The vast majority were still wearing masks (including the staff).
Went to Kroger and they still are requiring masks (for now). |
Kroger here is not, most stores are not. I haven't felt the need to wear a mask the past couple of weeks as restrictions have been lifted. Next goal for me is live shows in the fall.
|
I just spent 3 days in Denver. I didn't wear a mask in the hotel, in the restaurants, in the shuttles or training center. It was really nice. I know that KY law hasn't changed officially yet, and our Kroger still has the mask signage on the door, but I'd say that fully 80% of people stopped wearing them.
|
Still wearing a mask all the time myself. It's part of the service for my job, and we're at about half-n-half around here.
|
Im on my 5th sickness since the pandemic started. All upper respiratory. So far all have been COVID negative. But I always mask, wash my had, and really don't go out amongst people, but I still manage to catch colds.
|
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:04 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin Version 3.6.0
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.